Public Funding for Meniscus Systems LTD.

"The rapid rise in the installation of photovoltaic power generation (PV) is leading to operational problems for the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) and impacting the electricity demand profile. These issues restrict installation of additional PV capacity, increase operating costs for the DNO's, complicate forecasting and balancing of the electricity network and impact margins of the PV operators. This project tests the feasibility of developing a smart system to create short term (up to 1 hour ahead at 5 to 15 minute intervals) predictions of cloud cover and solar intensity at specific locations. These predictions will update every 15 minutes as new satellite imagery becomes available Using these predictions, the project will: 1. Predict site power output for PV sites. 2. Model the integration of these predictions into the Demand Side Response (DSR) market to predict short term electricity output from PV farms and properties, with and without on-site battery storage. 3. Review how these predictions can optimise on-site generation and demand, and enable the creation of a micro grid to optimise local electricity demand. The project is geographically focused on the South West but the system will be suitable for any location in the UK. The benefits of the project being: 1. To help balance local power fluctuations in the local distribution network 2. To help solar farms that have fixed output contracts identify shortfalls and have some opportunity to manage this shortfall 3. To help solar farms that have (or are considering) battery storage to improve the revenue (or business case) of such an asset by better managing the combination of storage and solar output, for example generating additional revenue by participating in DSR markets. The innovation in the project lies primarily in the integration of the short term cloud cover/PV output predictions with DSR capability to deliver a system/service that can be exploited by the commercial PV community. The project team comprises; Cornwall Council, a PV farm owner who is impacted significantly by grid imbalances; BRE -- National Solar Centre, a leading consultant in PV installation and monitoring providing solar advice and expertise; Open Energi, a leading specialist in the DSR market with existing expertise in the PV sector; Meniscus, a real time Big Data analytics specialist who is the project lead. The project calls on specific expertise from two sub-contractors; Pixalytics Ltd a satellite acquisition specialist providing processed imagery; Bath University with expertise in cloud prediction algorithms."

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

An SME growth project to help access to markets

By delivering very accurate short term rainfall forecasts specific to a location or planned journey, this project looks to increase the number of residents in the City of Peterborough cycling and walking to their final destination by reducing one of the biggest concerns namely, being rained on during the journey. The project will use a combination of real time radar based rainfall data with real time wind speed and direction data, in addition to historic rainfall data to deliver these predictions which will be made available to residents by a free mobile app. A paid for premium app will be available for private companies outside the Peterborough area. Consortia members include: Meniscus, a micro SME with a real time analytics platform; Peterborough City Council; Peterborough Environment City Trust, a local charity working with local communities to deliver a cleaner, greener Peterborough; Loughborough University, a leading research university in User Centred Design; Anglia Ruskin University, a leading University in the development of personalised end user interfaces.

Technology advances have increased the number of sensors available, the sources of information monitored, the frequency of data transmission and the bandwidth of transmission across inter-connected networks. This has caused an exponential growth in the amount of data both generated and stored. Meniscus provides data collection and analysis for utilities companies including water and energy. The analysis forms business intelligence that can inform decisions, improve operational management and increase efficiency. A major application of our existing analytics platform is the forecasting of hydraulic capacity levels in the sewerage networks for water companies. There is an opportunity to use all this new data with smart water solutions; the potential global savings for water utility companies is estimated between $7.1 billion and $12.5 billion each year. Meniscus want to take advantage of this opportunity by developing a real-time analytics platform, which will inform operational decisions of the sewerage network, prevent flooding incidents and reduce overall energy costs.